Remember Google Buzz, the attempt prior to Google+ for the company to get social? It was shut down in October, 2011, but never actually died. Believe it or not, everything that you had (if you had anything) on the old platform is still available. That finally ends in July after nearly 2 years of lingering on its death bed. Today, Google sent old Buzz users this email: Buzz user, In October 2011 we announced Google Buzz was shutting down. On or after July 17th, 2013, Google will take the last step in the shutdown and will save a copy of your Buzz posts to your Google Drive, a service for storing files online….

The good part about comprehensive socialism is that it’s excellent for buying votes and winning elections as the masses in the middle and lower class see an opportunity for them to get more money that they didn’t have to earn. The bad part is that, when mixed with isolationism and paranoid political accusations, it forces a country to allow its people to be hurt as a result, especially in the long run. That’s the problem that is facing the people of Argentina right now and Google has been forced to make a move of their own against the policies of the current regime. The doors have all been shut outside…

In many ways, Facebook has lost some of its luster as a business tool. It isn’t that it’s not possible to properly market a business on the platform. It’s that the complexity of the EdgeRank algorithm mixed with the touchiness of the advertising formats has many turning autopilot onto their pages instead of investing time or money into them. They just weren’t seeing a return on investment the way that they had hoped. It seems to be an ebb and flow of sentiment. General Motors, for example, decided to dump their investment into Facebook advertising last year before returning to the platform this year….

Drivers are constantly distracted, visually, manually and cognitively. They text, they call, and they adjust their GPS devices, all while driving. Nearly 80% of car crashes in the US are caused by these distracted drivers. While Google Glass is a (mostly) hands-free device with some amazing capabilities specifically designed for the road, how will it affect driver safety in a driver-distracted world? In 2012, cellphone use—especially texting—was responsible for one crash every 24 seconds in America, according to the National Safety Council, which lists three types of driving distractions:…

Do you love shopping? Do you get a gleam in your eye and exhilaration in your heart when you make a purchase? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you may also classify yourself as a shopaholic. Along with being a shopaholic comes the potential for buyer’s remorse and the frantic checking of your account balance. If you should curb your spending and pay better attention to your finances, these apps are just the thing for you. Check the list below to see which apps will save you money without compromising your love of shopping.   Plan your meals with eMeals You must subscribe to the…

The advent of global and communications technologies has been at the forefront of business and consumer industries for years, allowing us to share data, ideas and collaborative tools instantly around the world. However, the private sector isn’t the only industry to be revolutionized by the digital age. Technological advances in the public sector has seen a huge growth as the need for reliable communication tools and state-of-the-art devices rises in an effort to save lives and serve the community.   Innovative technology for civil servants A civil servant, being responsible for…

Plants. That’s going to be the secret weapon for Amazon if they get their way in Seattle as their plans (pdf) include three massive biodomes in the front yard of their proposed skyscraper offices in the downtown area at 7th Avenue and Westlake. In essence, it would be their own miniature version of an Amazon rain forest, only the rain would be left on the outside of the domes. According to the proposal which is being reviewed by the Design Review Board, “In addition to a variety of workplace environments, the facility will incorporate dining, meeting and lounge spaces, as well as a variety of botanical…

A social media study conducted by Pew (pdf) reveals some interesting facts about social media use by teenagers. One of the most interesting takeaways is that Tumblr just isn’t as popular as many people believe in the youngest demographic. Twitter is. It’s growing substantially with 24% of teens microblogging their 140-characters regularly in 2012 compared to 16% in 2011. Instagram is also growing in popularity with 11% of teens using Facebook’s mobile image darling. Compare this to Tumblr, a much older service and one that is wrongly associated by many to be a teen haven, is sitting at only 5%…

Fans of the extremely popular Call of Duty video game series have experienced many emotional premises that dominate the game play and drive the story lines. Pride. Revenge. Hope. With the upcoming release from Infinity Ward, there is an overwhelming sense of a different kind of emotion, one that CoD fans haven’t seen in previous titles. Call of Duty: Ghosts is already being depicted as bringing despair to gamers, at least those who are used to America being a superpower. In this game, America will be broken. The government will have failed. The economy will have collapsed. Cities will be overrun…

Yahoo is finally tossing its hat into the social media ring. Recently, Yahoo announced that it would be incorporating tweets into its newsfeed on Yahoo.com. This signals a serious shift, since Yahoo is giving equal weight to tweets and ‘bona fide news.’ Anyone who’s paying attention will have noticed that Twitter is one of the largest growing companies in the world. With over half a billion users and over $250 million in advertising revenue just last year, Twitter is also one of the most valuable brand strategy tools available to a company. However, Yahoo is now using Twitter as a news outlet,…